I'm glad for her, but there are millions of women like this in America, and as a society, we still refuse to make the kinds of changes that would protect these kids and allow their moms to make a living with dignity. Pouring money at one woman you deem "worthy" isn't the solution.

A) I am old and b) my mother likes to think she's gentry — hence, I was trapped in smocked dresses with poufy sleeves FOREVER. I hated them. And I was a tiny kid, so I was like, 12, when I escaped the curse of the smocking.

Not only was milk normal, and required, but my mother was so anti-pop, that she got the man who ran the concessions at the horse shows she ran to not only carry milk for us, but he refuse to sell us pop! (My cousins, they could buy pop, but not us, no sirree.)

I lost my 12 year old spaniel last weekend, and on his last night, when he was in distress, our new kitty watched over him like ... like a hospice kitty. We were so touched.

Yup. That's what I told all those bill collectors, who kept calling, for YEARS. They count on being able to intimidate people.

"They just write it off ..." Um. No. That's why it took a decade of fighting bill collectors for emergency surgery my mother required when she COULD NOT BUY INSURANCE FOR ANY MONEY, because, remember? the bad old days? when the insurance companies could just say "sorry, you've been sick before, we won't cover you"?…

Don't freak out, but since I'm the same age as these moms (yikes! how did that happen?) I'm going to tell you that this is one of those things you learn as a grown up.

Right on! I just turned 50, found my sweetheart when I was 45. FORTY FIVE. It was a long long road to finding someone to live and love with, but it happened, and it happened after I got old enough and confident enough to own my own life. I too was never "hot" but as I age, I'm becoming what I always wanted to be,…

Oh no, there's not going to be a Craigslist that will help you out here. My tip would be to find the phone number for the county clerk (which you'll need to get a license anyhow), and call to ask for advice. The county clerks in some of these rural places are great — nice older ladies with poufy hair who know…

Tricky bit about the North Rim is that it's in Arizona, but I think the closest towns are all Utah — look for the nearest town outside the park? I can't imagine there are a lot of folks in St. George who will do an impromptu wedding at the North Rim but they might ...What's the county that encompasses the North Rim…

Oh lordy — that wedding was ... in the late 1980s? (Sorry, I'm old.) I'd contact the NPS and ask if there's a chapel — then call them for advice?

A zillion years ago when I worked for a raft guiding company, we had a couple book a Grand Canyon trip with a bunch of their friends. They got to Phantom Ranch, where they'd arranged for their parents and an officiant to be waiting. The woman changed into a dress, I think the groom was still in his Tevas, they had a…

Best book I read all year — Gentrification of the Mind, by Sarah Schulman. Go order it now ...

And a staple of many Minnesota bridal showers, baby showers, and other lady-parties.

My late brother had more than one experience of someone who was dying coming by to "visit" on their way to the astral plane (or wherever). Used to freak him out, and kind of annoy him. He'd start to worry when he'd dream about someone he hadn't talked to in a while ...

Good for you telling the truth. It's a weird thing, the way people who didn't have abusive parents feel the need to minimize the feelings of those who did, and it's frustrating as hell, but all the rest of us can do is keep telling the truth.

And yet, some of us still manage to find ourselves accidentally pregnant in our late forties. Oy. (We sent the jellybean off to try again, with someone who actually wanted to be pregnant.)

This one was really fun (who me? playing with the kids toys over here? just making sure they work right.) There's a big wooden spiral, and a lot of blocks and chutes. We had a good vacation annoying everyone with the incessant noise of rattling marbles.

I grew up with brothers and all boy cousins, and Hot Wheels were the bomb. We built tracks everywhere, and sent a lot of cars off into space. Also Legos. But my grandmother also built us playhouses for Christmas herself, and I have an aunt who rehabbed/built a succession of houses to augment her teachers income. So…

Exactly. Try getting a medical professional to take seriously your interest in maintaining your sex life post-50. Talk about side eye (and in my town, the women gynos are the worst). I'm thrilled about this news.